Unfinished Business
by dantesdarkqueen
Summary: "You thought you'd seen the last of me, hadn't you? This has been a long time coming, old man..." Victims should always get the chance to confront their tormentors. Even if that was more than two decades ago... OC, ties in with my and AmazonTurks's fics.
1. Unfinished Business

**Summary: **"You thought you'd seen the last of me, hadn't you? This has been a long time coming, old man..." Victims should always get the chance to confront their tormentors. Even if that was more than two decades ago... OC, ties in with AmazonTurk's O:A.

**Disclaimer: **I'm sure you all know the drill by now.

**Queen's Quornor: **It's been awhile since I've been on here, mainly because my muses refuse to cooperate when I want them to. I'm still trying to decide how to get from Point A to Point B (or rather, from Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere to Junon) on WMHB, but it's coming. Anyway, this fic is sort of a way for me to get back into fanfic writing more than anything; it's been floating around in pieces on my computer for a year now. Some time ago, I wrote a oneshot where Akalara spent some time considering her parents and what she thought of them. Now, I've got more family stuff coming up in WMHB, so I thought that I should resolve some of her family issues in the original, mostly-canon timeline before I start into the AU deviation. So, Ak's going to get some therapy here, of the cathartic variety. This probably won't be more than a two-shot, but I might expand it a little further. We'll see.

Unfinished Business

It had been a quiet day in the Shinra building. No urgent meetings to attend. No anti-Shinra terrorist activity. No scream-matches between PMS-ing women. No accusations of improper sexual harassment. No wild circus sex in the IT room. No childish or potentially life-threatening pranks. He hadn't even heard any questionable moans, groans, or shrieks emanating from any of the offices. For once, most of his Turks were too preoccupied with paperwork or training to bother with their usual antics.

Tseng sighed in contentment and sipped his coffee. A quiet day indeed.

From down the hall came a rapid staccato of clicks, the unmistakable sign that one of his female Turks was about to interrupt his most-welcome, much-needed quiet day. He sighed again as the door to his office banged open, revealing a certain green-haired woman of petite stature. "Yes, Akalara?" he asked evenly, setting his coffee mug aside and folding his hands. He was in a forgiving mood; no need for his usual intimidation today.

She kicked the door shut and stormed up to his desk, slamming a crumpled sheet of paper down before him. Tseng glanced at the paper and then leveled his gaze back at the fuming woman in silent demand of an explanation.

"Why did you assign this to Kai?" she demanded.

Tseng picked up the paper and smoothed it out. It was an assignment, a mission calling for the permanent cessation of the activities of a man involved in a weapons smuggling ring known to scavenge from the old Shinra facilities. The paper provided his known haunts, physical description, and personal habits. Standard material required for an assassination to take place. This was a fairly normal mission, easy for a woman of Kai's talents. "She has no current assignment, and this does not require any specialized skills apart from stealth. Why are you so interested in it?"

"Did you look at the target's name?"

Tseng did, and hid a wince when he realized why Akalara was so upset. "You have a personal interest in this now, correct?"

"You're damn right I do!" She leaned over the desk, cranberry eyes bright and narrow. "I want this mission, Tseng. I owe him this."

The Wutaian considered her, mulled over what he knew of Akalara's past involvement with this man. She certainly did owe him, and evidently she was willing to confront him now. It was only right that she got the chance to face him, even though it had been so long since she had last seen him. "All right, Akalara. If you can dispose of him, he's yours," he told her, offering the wrinkled mission.

She nodded curtly, whirled, and swept out of the office with the paper clenched tightly in her hand. Tseng waited until the clicking of her heels faded away before pulling out his phone and hitting a number on the speed-dial.

"So you heard that? Yes, you have a part in this. I want you to follow her. Make sure she can actually finish the job." He listened to the question from the receiver, then hid a chuckle when he realized that there was no knowledge of past events at all here. "You'll have to ask her that, assuming she'll tell you. All I can say is that Akalara has a personal interest in this man, and there is a chance she might not be able to complete the mission. If she is unable, you must eliminate the subject yourself."

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Akalara sneered at the rundown, filthy duplex across the street. It was hard to believe the place was still standing, that he still lived there. By all rights it should have fallen down atop him years ago. Any building inspector would have condemned it. She smirked; perhaps that was a method she could utilize to cover her tracks, once her mission was completed.

She sneered again and swiftly crossed the street, hoping that it was dark enough to hide her distinctive hair color. Chances were that few people living here remembered the terrified little girl she once had been, but as a Turk she did get some media attention whenever President Rufus made a public appearance. Her hoodie was an effective cover, but people were suspicious of newcomers down here. They'd remember a short woman with dark green hair, if they caught a glimpse of it.

After slinking into some shadows, she made her way to the window at the back of the duplex and crouched in the darkness. Her gloved fingers reached up and tested the pane, and a wicked half-grin creased her lips. Twenty-five years, and he still left that back window unlocked. She hadn't been able to reach the glass when last she had been here, but many had been the times when she'd watched a slender woman with black hair and crimson eyes slip through the window during the night and early morning.

Following that long-ago example, Akalara slowly lifted the window and poked her head inside. Seeing no signs of movement or any lights, she climbed inside and lowed the pane soundlessly behind her. A quick glance at her watch told her that her target wasn't expected home for at least another three hours, giving her plenty of time to plot his welcome.

Swallowing the bile that crept into her throat as memories arose, Akalara went to find the fuse-box.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Cel cursed as he dropped his key in the dust. Carefully setting down his Swiller Hi-Life, he slowly bent down and brushed around until he found it. He groaned on his way back up, swearing at his painfully arthritic knees for refusing to obey his command. Beer in hand, he continued on his slow way down the road.

Business had been good today, he reflected. Salvaging old mechs and equipment from the ruined, former Shinra building and repairing them brought better gil than he had ever made before, enough to purchase all the beer he wanted, and more women than he had ever dreamed. Cel had even been able to buy the entire duplex where he'd live since...

He scratched his head. How long _had _he lived there, anyway? Long before Meteorfall, definitely. Most of his life. It wasn't much of a building, but for the slums of Old Midgar a duplex was practically a palace. There were only five rooms in all, and the place wouldn't pass any building inspections, but it was his. And because it looked like it should be condemned, nobody thought it was worth breaking into. He could hammer his mechanical finds back into something resembling their original working order, cart the working parts over to the train graveyard, and assemble the mechs without fear of discovery or robbery.

He smiled, thinking about the trashed Scorpion mech he had found today. A few repairs, a new engine, and it would be as good as new. Considering how much the little security bots went for overseas, this prize would set him up for life.

"Celebration tonight!" he croaked, smiling down at the twelve-pack he carried. A few beers, and he'd go see what sort of parts he had that would fit the mech.

He unlocked his front door and nudged it open, reaching inside for the light-switch. His gap-toothed grin faltered when the darkness did not lessen, despite the _click_ that told him the lights should have come on. Cel shrugged and fumbled his way deeper into the room. So what if the lights were out? He didn't need light to drink. His feet remembered the way to his favorite chair and he settled in it comfortably, setting the twelve-pack down beside his feet. He selected one, popped the tab, and drained half the can with a happy sigh. Life was good.

Something crashed in the other room.

Cel started, but nothing moved in the gloom. "Damned cans. Prob'ly fell over again." Ignoring his misgivings, he reached back down. More beer, and he was certain it was nothing.

He heard a skittering noise next, but convinced himself it was nothing more than rats and downed another can. This old building was in bad shape long before Meteorfall, and it made a lot of noise. Nothing to worry about.

Then something else banged upstairs. Cel, tired of odd noises and wanting his drunken stupor, decided to go see what had made this noise. He started to heave himself up from his chair.

His eyes bulged when he realized he couldn't get up. Lurching forward hurt his skin, but didn't tear it free. "The fuck?"

"Comfortable, sir?" a throaty female voice purred from the darkness. "I hope you are. You won't be getting up anytime soon."

Cel stared into the gloom, desperately trying to pick out the unexpected visitor. "Who are you? What the fuck are you fucking doing in my fucking home!"

He heard a mocking chuckle. "Where's your famous vocabulary? I recall you using far more colorful words than 'fuck'."

"Fuck you, bitch!" He fought the leather, but to no avail. "What the fuck did you do to this chair?"

"Oh, just a little concoction of mine. It's body heat-activated, and will only loosen when it gets cold." The laughter rang again, sending a chill down Cel's spine. "Too bad for you."

He fought down the wave of panic that rose then, feeling goosebumps raising on his arms. "Tell me what you want. Gil? I can pay you!"

"Oh, I'm not after gil. I make plenty on my own." He heard a clicking sound, and felt sweat bead on his forehead as he recognized it as the sound of a gun being loaded. "This is another sort of payment, long overdue."

"Why are you doing this?" he shrieked, fighting to break free of the chair. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Do you remember ever having a daughter?"

Cel started at the unexpected question. Why would this bitch want to know about that? "If you're from some fucking orphanage or a shit-brained social worker, you're pretty fucking late. I ain't seen that little cunt in years."

Something moved in the shadows, and he fought the urge to hyperventilate as he noticed two red orbs, glowing dimly in the dark. "And you never thought to try and look for her. Your own daughter."

"My cunt of a girlfriend left her out on the streets! Little bitch was too fucking stupid to drag her skinny ass back here. She prob'ly died in the gutters, like the filthy little whore she was!"

A shot rang out, and Cel sat absolutely still, too frightened to even acknowledge the stinging pain from where the bullet had grazed his ear. "You haven't change a bit," the unseen woman hissed. "It's been twenty-five years, and you're still too fucking stupid to figure out the obvious."

His pulse was suddenly going into overtime, hammering at the base of his throat. "What...?"

From out of the gloom stepped a shapely, petite woman with long hair, the owner of the glowing red eyes. In the light streaming through the cracked windows, his terrified mind registered a flash of green as she pulled back the hood of her sweatshirt. Her beautiful face, the face of a woman he hadn't seen in nearly two decades, was full of hatred and loathing. "Hello, _Daddy._"


	2. Resolution

**Summary: **"You thought you'd seen the last of me, hadn't you? This has been a long time coming, old man..." Victims should always get the chance to confront their tormentors. Even if that was more than two decades ago... OC, ties in with AmazonTurk's O:A.

**Disclaimer: **I'm sure you all know the drill by now. This story also refers back to my oneshot, "What You Mean To Me."

**Queen's Quornor: **Muses are divas, and I'm running out of Snickers.

Resolution

Reno took a long drag on his cigarette and blew the smoke at the eves of the abandoned hovel that sheltered him, aqua eyes fixed on the duplex across the street. Calm as he appeared, his mind was whirling.

Tseng had sent him to trail Akalara and make sure she could finish this mission. The Turk leader hadn't told him why there was a possibility she might fail, and he wasn't certain why she had been so adamant that she got this target, but he could think of a few possibilities. Despite being one of his closest friends, the green-haired woman had never shared the details of her past with him. Kandi knew a little, and Reno was positive that she had told Sephiroth, and maybe Revan, the details. But she'd never said a thing about it to him beyond what most of the other Turks knew. He knew she had grown up on the streets - which wasn't a unique attribute amongst the Turks - and that she had worked as a topless dancer prior to her meeting Seph, Zack, and Kandi. That was about it.

Whatever this mission was, however, she had a personal investment in its completion. He certainly hadn't missed that part of the conversation.

But what was it that had gotten her interest? He pondered the possibilities, sucking the smoke deep into his lungs and releasing another hazy plume into the air. What had made her snatch another Turk's mission and storm into Tseng's office, demanding the assignment for herself? What did capping a lowly arms smuggler have to do with her past?

Reno continued to lean against the crumbling wall, illuminated only when his cigarette flared.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Mastered Barrier materia had its place amongst the Turks. It kept them alive when explosions were imminent, it deflected lasers and bullets, and - everybody's favorite attribute - it provided a soundproof barricade for illicit encounters. Most of the time, the only screams that were ever contained by these particular materia were those created by mind-blowing sex.

This occasion was a rare exception. Mustn't let the neighbors hear this.

"What do you think of me now, _Daddy?_" Akalara hissed, whipping Cel's belt across his chest again, ignoring his cries for mercy. "Are you proud of your little baby girl? Are you pleased that she went and got herself a job as a Turk? That she _made _something of herself?"

She swung again, smirking as the buckle drew blood from his raw cheek. "Or are you disappointed that she didn't turn out to be the little cunt that you thought she was? You always made that so clear when I was little, that you wanted me to be a whore."

The belt slapped just above his left nipple, drawing a shriek from the tormented man. Akalara bared her teeth and threw the bloodied leather aside, no longer satisfied with merely belting him. "Do you remember all the shit you put me through? All the times you came home and beat me until I couldn't move?" When Cel didn't respond, she backhanded him. "Do you?"

"Why're you doin' this?" he slurred, blood and a tooth dribbling from his slackened lips. His head lolled as he tried to focus on her.

"Why? _Why?_" she shrieked. Enraged, she swung with hooked fingers, clawing through the skin of his face. "How does it feel, _Daddy_, to be the bitch? How does it feel to be weak and helpless? How do you like being at my mercy? _How did you think I felt whenever you starting wailing on me?"_

Now the kunai came out, and Akalara started cutting. With every slash of her knives, she barked out a question: "Why did you do it? How could you do it? Why didn't you ever give a damn about me?"

Panting, she retreated to the far side of the room and considered the wreck of a man glued to his chair. He was still alive and bleeding, his teary eyes fixed on her. This was the man who had terrorized her nearly killed her on so many different occasions. This was the man who had broken her, beaten her, and convinced her she was a worthless little whore before she even knew what the word meant. He was the reason her mother had abandoned her on the streets in an attempt to save her life. Every little messed up belief in her fucked up head was due to the man sitting in front of her, and he was totally at her mercy.

"How does it feel, Daddy?" she demanded softly. "How do you like being in my place for once?"

Cel stared at her, then pursed his lips and spit. "Y'always were a bitch, even as a baby," he gasped. "Makin' trouble, takin' my woman away from me, wakin' me up at the ass-crack o' dawn. You deserved all that, ya lil' cocksucker! Y'needed disc'pline!"

"Discipline? You called that _discipline?_" Akalara hurled one of her kunai at him, relishing his scream as it sank into his groin. "That was just me being a baby! All babies do that! My son did that when he was a baby! How fucking immature and stupid did you have to be to think that I wanted to steal my mother's attention from a shit-brained asshole like you?"

Cel suddenly perked up. "Son? You have a son?"

"Don't even dare think that you'll get the chance to see him," she warned, narrowing her demonic crimson eyes at him. "As far as he's concerned, he doesn't have any grandfathers. Besides, you won't live that long anyway."

He gave her a gap-toothed, smug grin. "Whose blood d'ya think runs in 'im?" he leered. "What's yours is mine, bitch. It's all b'cause o' me."

Akalara stormed over to him and ripped her knife out of his crotch, holding his bloodshot eyes with hers so he couldn't even scream. "You're right. It's your fault I wound up on the streets at age four. It's your fault I joined a gang. It's your fault I learned to steal, to make bombs, and to kill. It's your fault I was sleeping with Scar when I was twelve. It's your fault I hated myself so much, I tried to kill myself and let my friends raise my son for me." She traced the bloody knife along the side of his face, listening to the scrape of his stubble being sheared off. "I've killed you a thousand times in my head. I've had nightmare after nightmare about the things you did to me. But you know what?"

She leaned in close, trapping his terrified gaze within her own. "It all stops now."

Akalara gripped her kunai, and started stabbing. She closed her eyes and just let her arms rise and fall, ignoring her father's grunts and shrieks as the blades tore into him. She felt his blood spray across her face and neck, felt the kunai scrape against bone and glide through fat and gristle. She remembered all the pain he had caused her and fed on it, used it to fuel her bloodlust. She stabbed and cut and slashed until her arms were nearly numb and the hilts of her kunai were almost too slick to hold.

At last, she let the blades fall and surveyed her work. Empty, her head tilted back and she closed her eyes, feeling his hot blood soaking through her uniform. He was finally dead.

Akalara felt coolness sliding into her hair, and realized she was crying.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Praise Shiva that she had remembered to grab some Disguise materia before leaving the office. There was no way Akalara could possibly explain all the blood to curious passerby, so it fell to the magic of the yellow orb to hide it until she could get back to the Shinra building and its showers.

Akalara managed to stumble down an alley before her legs gave out and she slammed into the wall. Sliding down to sit on the ground, she stared at the small remote in her palm, the big red button just begging to be pushed. One press of her thumb, and her childhood hovel would go up in smoke.

So why couldn't she do it?

"You okay, babe?"

She glanced up to see a familiar face peering out from a hoodie. "What are you doing here, Red?"

"Can I sit down?"

She dropped her head and Reno slid down beside her. She didn't resist as he put his arms around her and pulled her close, rubbing her back as the tears started again.

"Did you get it done?" he whispered against her hair.

Akalara shook her head. "I got him, but I can't... I can't..."

"I'll do it." Reno took the remote when it was offered, and kept his arm tight around her as he pushed the button. The ground shook as the duplex and the surrounding buildings, all of which had been condemned and abandoned, exploded into flames and debris. She clutched at him and buried her face in his chest, ashamed for crying over something so justly deserved. Reno just held her, whispering "It's okay, Ak. I've got you. Let it out."

Let it out she did, albeit silently. The flames rose and shadows flickered past them, but nobody stopped to question the couple in the alley. If anyone did try to approach the grieving woman, they were quickly scared off by a single look from her companion. Reno wasn't about to let anybody bother her like this, and for that Akalara was grateful. She even forgave him for following her on a solo mission. As sirens began to wail, she finally lifted her splotchy face from his sodden shirt.

"I'll tell you someday," she choked.

The redhead nodded. "I know, babe. I know. And I won't tell anyone." He helped her up, keeping his arm around her for support. "C'mon, let's go get you cleaned up. Can't have any of the others see you like this."

Akalara managed a weak smile, thankful that he understood her reluctance to return to HQ like this. "Thanks, Reno."

"It's nothing, Ak. All anybody needs to know is that you did your job." He kissed her head softly, making her smile widen a bit. "Now let's amscray before people start realizing we had anything to do with that explosion."

She nodded and leaned her head against his shoulder to think, letting him guide her away. That bastard had been responsible for everything that had gone so wrong in her life, it was true.

But by the same token, he was also responsible for everything that had gone so right in it, as well.

She sniffed back more tears and listened to the song of the fire engines.


	3. Confession

**Summary: **"You thought you'd seen the last of me, hadn't you? This has been a long time coming, old man..." Victims should always get the chance to confront their tormentors. Even if that was more than two decades ago... OC, ties in with AmazonTurk's O:A.

**Disclaimer: **I'm sure you all know the drill by now. This story also refers back to my oneshots, "What You Mean To Me,""Streaks of Crimson," and especially "Like Mother, Like Daughter." None of the other OCs here belong to me.

**Queen's Quornor: **Amazon deserves some credit for this installment. I was originally going to end with the second chapter, but forgot to change the status to "Complete". When she pointed this out to me and asked me to update soon, I got an idea for what you are about to read. So if you like it, give her a shout-out in the review!

Confession

Reno jumped as his office door slammed open, nearly breaking his finger when he slammed it down on the mouse, trying to minimize the website he was currently perusing. He turned his attention to the gorgeous piece of - a sudden vision of Torr flexing his arms filled his mind - _coworker _standing in his doorway. Immediately he could tell that this was no pleasure visit, pun not intended but applicable. He could see the smoke rising from Brit's head.

"You have _got_ to do something about the Green Bitch," she gritted. "If you don't, I'm going to ride my bike up here and run her ass over. She is driving me in-fucking-sane!"

"What's she doing?" he asked, finally getting the website to go away.

"She's been unloading her guns and pulling the triggers, tapping her nails, flipping pencils across the room, popping her gum-"

"Since when does Ak chew gum?" Reno interrupted.

"Since she started swiping mine. Gods, I never knew how fucking _annoying _gum-snapping could be!" Brit stomped up to his desk and slammed her fists down, making most of his stuff rattle. "She's also started scratching herself like mad. Last time I saw anybody do that, they had just come outta the damn Swamp."

Alarm bells suddenly started ringing in Reno's head. "How long has she been doing that?"

Brit shrugged. "Pretty much since her last mission. You were her back-up, so I figured you'd be the one to talk some sense into her dumbass head."

The redhead was already on his feet. "I'm gonna steal your partner for a few hours. Go see Torr or something."

Brit saluted as he left, and slid behind his desk, eager to see what good porn sites he could "recommend" this time.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Reno had already been concerned about his green-haired friend, but after hearing Brit's complaints it turned into genuine worry. What really got his attention was her report of Akalara scratching herself, because he knew she had a history with that behavior. After she finished her required sessions with her shrink, Dr. Irving, Tseng had asked Reno to make copies of her psychiatric files and deliver them to him; Reno, of course, had read them beforehand. The shrink had recorded how Akalara described scratching at her skin to the point of bloodshed prior to reaching for her razor as a way of punishing herself, and Revan had noted that his lover had a habit of idly raking her nails along her arms when agitated. But as far as Reno knew, this form of self-punishment had not manifested since her attempted suicide.

Obviously, whatever it was about her last kill that had reduced her to tears continued to affect her now.

Approaching the office Brit shared with her partner, Reno heard the steady clicks of a gun's hammer releasing. Steeling himself, he opened the door and went inside. Akalara was sitting at her desk, idly pulling the trigger on one of her paired Smyth & Westron .50 cal magnums. Its mate, apparently dismantled for cleaning, bore the inscription "Rev" on the lengthy barrel. That meant the gun she was playing with was Seph, the primary gun. The redheaded Turk wondered if that was by chance, or intent.

She glanced up at his entrance. "Hey, Red. What's up?"

He shut the door behind him and crossed the room to sit atop the corner of her desk. "Ak, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, pulling Seph's trigger again.

Reno took the gun from her hands and carefully laid it on her desk, knowing how much Seph and Rev meant to her as weapons and as men. "Brit just came down to my office and told me you're driving her crazy. I've known you for years, Ak, and I know you have your quirks. But this ain't normal for you." He leaned forward on his knees, wishing she would look him in the eye. "You know you can trust me. What's bothering you?"

Akalara sighed and pulled a pack of gum out of her pocket. Reno promptly snatched that away, too. "Brit told me you've picked up her habit of snapping gum, times a thousand," he explained to her glare.

"Can I at least chew some mints?" she asked, with obvious sarcasm.

"Why do you need to chew anything?" Reno returned. "You don't have funk-ass breath or anything, and I've never known you to want or need chewable stuff like this."

She shrugged.

"Does it have anything to do with that last mission? The one you wanted so bad, you ripped it out of Kai's hands?"

"Reno, that's none of your business," she told him, looking at the floor.

"I'm your friend, your superior, and your ex-lover. If that ain't reason to make it my business, I don't know what the hell is." He grabbed her hand when she started scratching at her arm. "You're turning into a mess, Ak. Just tell me what's wrong so I can help you, okay?"

"Since when did you get so corny?" the green-haired woman asked, trying to pull her hand away.

"Since my car's stereo got stuck on the Dr. Maura channel this morning." He gave her a shit-eating grin, which finally made a smile tease at her lips. "C'mon, Ak. Just tell me so you can get it off your chest, a'ight? You did say you would tell me someday."

She blew a hefty sigh. "You're a real pain, you know that?"

"That's why you love me, Ak. Now what's eating you?"

Akalara looked at her guns, then back at the senior Turk. "Reno, what do you remember of your parents?"

A sneaking suspicion flitted to the front of his mind, but he decided to play along. "I don't know shit about my dad, 'cept that he skipped town on my mom before I was born. Mom raised me and held down two jobs until I turned seven, then she got sick and I started stealing to try and help out with the bills. After she died, I wound up on the streets, and after a few years of that I got recruited by the Turks. You know the story from there, Ak."

"You were lucky," she told him, her cranberry eyes filled with shadows. Reno watched her for a moment, then leaned forward to trap her gaze with his.

"Ak, who was that man to you?"

She inhaled deeply and slumped forward to lean on her desk, suddenly seeming much older than her twenty-nine years. "He was my father, Reno. My old man."

He kept a tight leash on his face. Akalara might see revulsion or condemnation where there wasn't any meant. It was just that he hadn't been expecting her to admit to patricide. "What did he do to you?"

"My mother left me on the streets and knocked me out when I tried to follow her, just to get me away from him. That should tell you something," she said flatly.

Reno ran through all the activities that could lead to protective abandonment, and cursed the man for being dead. If he was still alive, whatever Ak had done to him would have been child's play compared to Reno's justice. "Did he ever touch you?" he had to ask.

She shook her head. "Regularly beat me within an inch of my life and called me every name in the book, but he wasn't into pedophilia." The green-haired woman took a deep, calming breath. "He was a big drinker, and always spent his paychecks at the bar. Mom had to sell drugs just to keep us all fed and pay rent, because her job just didn't pay enough to pick up the slack. Whatever was left from his checks went straight into buying more drugs. It was prescription stuff - I have no idea where she got it - but a lot of it was painkillers. I think she used about half of her stash just keeping me alive every weekend. His typical drunk-night schedule consisted of 'disciplining' me until I couldn't move, grabbing more beer, then screwing with Mom until he passed out."

"He only did this while he was drunk?"

"Drinking only aggravated the problem. He never drank anything other than beer. Must be why I stick to the hard stuff." She snorted a quick laugh. "He was into physical punishment, but he never believed in spanking. It was always fists and feet with him, and I can't begin to count how many times I wound up with broken bones, black eyes, and split lips. Most of them I can't remember, because as far as I can tell he started doing this while I was still a baby. Do you want to know what that fucker told me?" She didn't wait for Reno to reply. "He said he did it because I needed discipline, because I was 'stealing his woman away from him'."

That blew Reno's mind. He had never heard of a person so selfish and petty that they would punish their baby just for needing its parents' care.

"One of his biggest complaints was the way I looked," Akalara continued, running her fingernail along the side of her hand. "I've got my mother's face and eyes, but that's where the resemblence ends. She had black hair, and he was a blond. I still have no idea where my green hair came from. My guess is that it's from my grandparents, but I'll probably never know for sure; they were all either dead or disowned or something by the time I came along. Maybe it was from somewhere further back." She sighed again, fingering a lock of the hair in question. As she wound it around her finger, she continued her story. "I think he figured I wasn't his, because I didn't really look a thing like him. I always wondered about that myself, but science doesn't lie. I had some of his blood compared to mine after that mission and the bastard really was my father."

"Is that why you were crying?" Reno gently asked. "Because you were putting down your old man?"

"Part of it, I think." She shrugged and rubbed at her eye. "It's just that I hate him so much, and it kills me that I owe him for where I am today. If he hadn't been such an asshole, I wouldn't have met you, Seph, and everybody else. I wouldn't have gotten into the Turks. I wouldn't have Az. My life is a hell of a lot better than it used to be, and it's only because he put me through that hell. I can't forgive him, and I have him to thank. It's like some sick joke, Reno. Like the gods decided to pick on me."

The redhead reached out to take her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "I don't think you owe him shit, Ak. He beat you up, yeah, but he's not the one who took you away and left you. Your mother could've just let him knock your brains out." A thought came to him, and he acted on the impulse. "What about your mother? Do you know what happened to her?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since she walked away from me. She wasn't there when I infiltrated the house last week, and that man didn't say a word about her." Akalara scratched her arm, but quickly stopped when she noticed how Reno was looking at her. "I'm not sure what to think about her, or even if I want to see her. I do and I don't. Does that make any kind of sense?"

He nodded. "It does. But Ak, she never did anything to hurt you, right?" At her nod, he continued. "You're a mess because you're so confused about your father. Why not find your mother, and get some answers about whether you owe him or not?"

"But I don't even know if she wants anything to do with me, or if she's still alive," Akalara protested. "Why get my hopes up if there's such a good chance of being disappointed?"

You've stopped the nervous ticks and crap," Reno pointed out. "You're not asking about gum and you're not firing your empty guns. In short, thinking about this is keeping you sane. I think it's worth looking into, don't you?"

She looked at him, down at their hands, then back up. "All right. Her name was Rae Hatchett, and she had black hair and red eyes. I don't remember how tall she was, but I'm pretty sure she had at least a few inches on me. She and Cel - that was his name - never married, and she was hoping to move above the Plate with the little extra money she got from drug sales."

"Did she have any aliases?" Reno asked with a straight face.

Akalara lightly punched him in the arm. "I was four years old. How the hell should I know?"

"Just checking." He ran the details through his head again, to make sure he had them straight. "Okay, I'll see what I can dig up for you. Can I enlist Kandi if I can't find anything?"

"As long as she's the only other person you tell, sure. If Kandi can't find her, I'll know she's dead." The green-haired woman let go of his hand, only to hold out her own with an expectant look. "Can I have my gum back?"

He shook his head with a smile. "It's Brit's gum, and I'll give it back to her for you."

"Bitch."

Reno leaned down to kiss her cheek. "You'll thank me later," he told her, still smiling.


	4. Investigation

**Summary: **"You thought you'd seen the last of me, hadn't you? This has been a long time coming, old man..." Victims should always get the chance to confront their tormentors. Even if that was more than two decades ago... OC, ties in with AmazonTurk's O:A.

**Disclaimer: **I'm sure you all know the drill by now.

**Queen's Quornor:** I tried writing this chapter back when this fic was first posted, and it just wasn't cooperating with me for some reason. However, yesterday morning I was struck by the writing bug. I just didn't post it because I needed to go out to a friend's house to buy my new car. It's just a used Saturn, but it's in decent shape and I only need it for work. Still, CAR! Also, CHAPTER! I got hit with an idea to include two very minor characters from Dirge of Cerberus, and they should be fairly obvious herein.

Investigation 

_ Rae Hatchett... Rae Hatchett..._

Reno scrolled through the property records again, searching for the name. The Turk database was extremely thorough, with records kept on the entire population of Midgar from the city's construction into the present, supplimented with the recent files from Edge. But as comprehensive as the public records were, Akalara's mother was proving to be one very elusive lady.

He had already determined that her name wasn't among those listed in the Meteorfall casualties, and the census records proved that she had lived with Cel Tearsong, his friend's abusive father, for a good four years after the couple had stopped checking the boxes for "Children" and "One" on the yearly form. On the fifth year, Rae had apparently left him and moved to a different sector beneath the slums. There were a few other men Reno had managed to link with her, but no marriage certificates. She had never wed, not even to Akalara's father. There had been no more children.

Now Reno had hit a roadblock. Rae Hatchett's name disappeared from the Midgar database six years prior to Meteorfall, and it didn't appear to be caused by a death or protective custody. Her criminal record only listed two occasions when she had been picked up and jailed for selling drugs, and the last occasion had taken place before she left Cel behind.

She had sold her home and gone _somewhere._ He was having some trouble figuring out exactly where.

"'Sup, ReRe-Chan?"

Reno turned away from the moniter to see Kandi walking over to him, a cup of coffee in one hand and a muffin in the other. "Just doing a little research. And don't call me ReRe-chan."

"Have you been here all night?" she asked, biting into the breakfast treat. "You look exhausted."

Now that she had pointed it out, he _was_ exhausted. There were no windows in the IT room; he had pulled an all-nighter without realizing it. "I guess I have been. You need a clock or something in here, Vending Machine."

"Nah. Wall clocks annoy the shit out of me. I just use the clock on the computers." She plopped into a chair and rolled over to his terminal, taking a sip of her coffee as she glanced over the records. "So what have you been researching?"

"Been looking into the movements of a woman, trying to find out where she is now." Reno minimized the property records and pulled up Rae Hatchett's personnel file; she had worked as a secretary at Shinra for a few years. The ironic part was that she left the company and vanished a few weeks before Sephiroth had bought Akalara into their lives, landing her the exact same position in the process.

Kandi squinted at the woman's picture, taking in her long black hair and piercing cranberry eyes, the pale oval of a face and pointed chin. "Y'know, she looks kinda familiar. Has she come up on our radar before?"

"Not as far as I can tell," Reno replied, leaning back and crossing his arms.

"Then why are you researching her?" the red-streaked woman asked, finishing her muffin and pitching the wrapper into the nearest wastebasket.

"I'm doing a favor for Akalara."

"What, is she out to get this woman or something? This an old girlfriend of Revan's?"

"No." Reno nodded to the picture, trying to hide his smile. "Meet Ak's mother."

Kandi's jaw dropped. She stared at the picture, then slowly nodded. "Turn the hair green, and you've got Ak! Holy shit, she looks just like her!" The red-streaked woman turned to her friend. "Does Ak know you're doing this for her?"

"She asked me to." Reno leaned back and rubbed his eyes, trying to massage away the gritty sensation. "Do you remember how she stole Kai's mission a few days ago?"

"Of course. Kai was pretty ticked at her, especially since that was the first field assignment she'd gotten in awhile."

"Well, that mission's the reason Ak's been so moody lately." He bit his lip and looked at the other Turk. "You got any coffee in there, Vending Machine?"

"I don't carry full pots or anything, but I have this." Kandi pulled a Stargils vanilla frappacino out of her jacket's inside pocket and passed it to the redhead. He twisted the cap off and drained half of the bottle, letting out a satisfied sigh as the sweet caffeine began to flood his system.

"Thanks. Anyway, she had a good reason for taking Kai's mission. The target was someone of personal interest to her."

Kandi snickered. "Don't tell me. It was her father, or an old sweetheart from the streets." Reno merely looked at her, and his solemn expression made her laughter trickle off as her eyes widened. "Oh, fuck. It _was?_"

"The target was her father."

"Oh, shit... How did he wind up tagged?" she asked, drinking her coffee in an effort to calm down.

"Arms smuggler. He was scavenging in the old Shinra building and hammering all of Scarlet's old robots back into shape, then selling them on the black market." Reno noticed the moniter go dark and wiggled the mouse, not wanting to log back in again. "The fucker got tagged for assassination after some of his bots attacked Joel and Sage during one of their missions, and Sil ran into a couple while she was on surveillance. Joel got their owner to cough up the location where he'd gotten them, and Sage managed to trace the gil exchange to a bank account belonging to one Cel Tearsong."

"Tearsong... I remember that name from Ak's file. It was her last name before she changed it to Forrest." Kandi took a long drink of her coffee, humming thoughtfully. "How did Ak find out about that mission, anyway?"

"She was chatting with Kai when Tseng faxed it to her. She took one look over her shoulder, and tore it out of her hands and went to see the Bossman."

"No wonder. When I read Ak's file, I remember it said he abused her, which led to her mom leaving her out on the streets."

"That doesn't quite describe it. Ak told me what he did to her, and the fucker deserved to die," Reno snarled, clutching his frappacino bottle as though imagining it to be the dead man's neck. "He never touched her sexually, but he did beat the shit out of her every time he came home drunk, which seems to have been quite often. He told her she needed 'discipline', and he didn't like having a little kid - even his own daughter - taking his girlfriend's attention away from him."

Kandi slowly shook her head, a frown twisting her full mouth. "Unbelievable."

"I know, right? Anyway, Ak took him out after returning the favor for awhile. But that's why she's had all these nervous tics and shit lately. Abusive bastard or not, that was still her father. Killing him wasn't easy for her."

"You should have taken me with you. Dammit, she should have told me. I should've been there for her," Kandi sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "Why does she always keep this shit to herself? We're her friends; we're supposed to help her through this kind of thing."

Reno shrugged. "I didn't know who he was when Tseng told me to follow her. Ak didn't say a word about the relationship until I made her tell me. If I had known, though, I would have taken you."

Kandi thought for a minute. "Hey, wasn't that big gas explosion in the slums about that time?"

"That was the cover-up. Most of the buildings around there were condemned and all but the one were abandoned, although there were a few outside the blast zone that had some folks in 'em. Ak blew most of the buildings in the area up. Emergency teams did recover the bastard's body, but he was burned beyond recognition. Still, they were able to count stab wounds on him, about fifty-some in all. She was in a total rage when she killed him." Reno took another drink of his breakfast. "She couldn't set off the bomb. Started crying and saying that she couldn't do it. I hit the button for her."

"Did she leave any evidence?"

"Ak's better than that. The only reason they found the wounds at all was because the firefighters got there a lot sooner than anticipated. They've been working on their response times, and it showed." The redhead nodded at his computer, wriggling the mouse again. "Ak doesn't know what happened to her mother after she got left on the streets, and she's been going crazy lately because she thinks her old man's the reason she met all of us."

"So you figured you'd try to find her mother, and get some answers for her." Kandi smiled at him and threw her empty coffee cup into away. "That's really sweet of you, y'know."

"Hey, Ak's been my friend and lover for how long? We ain't together anymore, but I bet I know a lot more about her than Rev does." Reno turned back to the computer. "Problem is, her mom moved out of Midgar before Meteorfall, and I can't figure out where she went."

The female Turk perked up. "Did she have a car?"

"Yeah. One of those purple tracker-jeeps. Had a designer liscense plate on it." He thought for a moment, tipping his head back and tapping his chin. "I think it read SO CRA-Z or something like that."

"Roll aside." Kandi kicked his chair away, sending the senior Turk spinning across the room to smack into the trash can. Ignoring his yelp and subsequent curses, the red-streaked woman calmly took his place at the terminal and began accessing the security footage from pre-Meteor Midgar.

"You're a bitch sometimes, you know that?" Reno grumbled, picking himself and the garbage off the floor.

"That's why you love me, ReRe-chan."

"Don't call me ReRe-chan!"

"ReRe-chan."

She laughed as she easily ducked the empty frappacino bottle.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Akalara looked up from her computer in surprise as her two oldest friends burst through the door to her and Brit's office. Kandi was hanging onto Reno's shoulder, apparently trying to retrieve a set of papers he clutched in his right hand, stretched out as far away from the red-streaked woman as he could get.

"Give those back! I wanna tell her! I found it first!" Kandi shrieked.

"You wouldn't even have known if I hadn't let you help!" Reno retorted, trying to pry her off his back with his free hand.

"If I hadn't stepped in you'd still be staring at that monitor!"

"I would've thought to use the cameras eventually!"

"Guys!" Akalara could feel a headache forming behind her eyes. "What's going on?"

"I found her, Ak! I found her!"

"Whaddya mean, _you _found her? I'm the one who told you who to look for!"

"_Hey!_" The green-haired woman's yell got the struggling pair's full attention, and they froze. "Will one of you please tell me what this is all about?" She nodded to Reno. "Red, you first."

"Why does he get to tell you?" Kandi demanded, pouting as she slid off his back.

"Because I said so," Akalara growled, baring her teeth and narrowing her crimson eyes.

"Thanks, Mom. Remind me to tell Azrael to never piss you off."

"Reno..."

"Telling! Telling!" He raised his hands in surrender. "I found your mother, Ak!"

The cranberry eyes blinked. "What?"

"We traced her movements through Midgar up until eleven years ago, when she left the city." Reno handed her the crumpled papers, revealing real estate deeds and old tax forms. "Shortly after you met Seph, Zack, and Kandi, she left the city."

"She moved to Kalm for health reasons. Medical records indicate that she developed some respiratory issues, and her doctor recommended moving to the country to try and fix them." Kandi sat on the edge of the younger woman's desk, a huge grin spreading across her face. "She's still living there, Ak! She survived the Deepground attack, and she's still there!"

"And so's your little sister," Reno added.

"_Sister?_" Akalara's jaw fell open. "I have a sister?"

"Your mother got married in Kalm, Ak. Her husband died when Deepground invaded, but before that they had a little girl together. Her name's Rio!" Kandi fished a paper out of the stack, a piece of grainy security footage. Akalara took took it with shaking hands. A little girl was walking alongside her mother, swinging a stuffed moogle doll in her free hand. She didn't appear older than five or six. The child's mother had shoulder-length black hair instead of the waist-length Akalara remembered, but the face turned towards the camera was almost an exact match to her own.

The green-haired Turk had to sit down. She gazed at the picture, then looked to her friends, both of whom were wearing shit-eating grins. "You're certain this is her?"

"Absolutely. That's your mother and your sister." Reno pulled a paper from from bottom of the pile. "I found her contact info. Dunno if you want to talk to her or anything, but it's here."

"Thanks, guys. I mean it. Thank you." She brushed at her eyes, wiping the sudden tears back into her hairline.

"No problem, Ak. I'm just glad we could do this for you." Kandi came around the desk and enveloped her in her arms, hugging the younger woman tight. Akalara relaxed into the embrace, taking strength from her dearest friend.

"Do you want to call her, Ak?" Reno asked gently. "We can stay, if you want us to."

"I..." She faltered. "I do and I don't. You know what I mean?"

Kandi smoothed her hand down her long pine-dark hair and kissed the top of her head. "It's up to you. But you might feel a lot better if you do call her."

Akalara looked at the papers, stared down at the happy child walking beside her mother. Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought there was a touch of sadness in the woman's face. Her mother's face. _Her _face.

"Yeah."

Kandi squeezed her again, then let go and walked back to Reno, pulling him towards the door. "We should probably get back to work."

The redhead paused before allowing her to drag him out of the office, his aqua eyes searching her face. "We're here if you need us, Ak."

"I know. Thank you." Akalara bit her lip, ignoring the door as it shut. Her mother was alive. She had a sister. The thoughts chased around her head as Akalara stared at the contact number listed beneath her mother' married name. No longer was she Rae Hatchett, small-time dealer of the slums. Now she was Rae Thorne, mother of Rio.

It had been so many years. Was it really worth it, to dig up old memories and the pain associated with them? Her mother had left her behind decades ago, along with her old life. She had a new life now, and a new daughter. A daughter younger than her firstborn's son.

Azrael's aunt was younger than he was.

The thought startled a laugh out of the nervous woman, and it helped to focus her scattered thoughts. Family had become so important to Akalara these past years, thanks to her son and the Turks as a whole. In spite of her abandonment, that was still her mother, and Azrael's grandmother.

She deserved to know.

Akalara pulled out her phone and entered the number before she could think twice about it. That done, she listened to it ring, praying that her mother would answer and that nobody was home to pick up the phone.

Her pulse pounded when somebody answered. "_Hello?_"

"Is this Rae Thorne?" she asked hesitantly. It was a woman's voice, not a child's. This was definitely not Rio.

"_May I ask who's calling, please?_"

The green-haired woman took a deep breath, calling upon every ounce of courage she possessed in an effort to reply and not end the call then and there. "Your daughter."

There was a pause, and Akalara heard something made of glass break in the background. She waited, feeling almost nauseated as she awaited the response.

"_Akalara?_"

"That's me." She choked suddenly, feeling tears spring to her eyes. "It's me. Gods, I didn't know if you'd remember or not."

"_Of course I remember. I just didn't expect... I was so..."_ Rae's voice trailed off on a sob. "_I never imagined I'd hear from you._"

"I never thought I'd be talking to you." Akalara licked her lips. "Can I see you? I really think we need to talk."

"_Yes, I think we do. There are some things we need to discuss._" Her voice was thick, but it was steadying by the second. "_Where are you?_"

"Old Midgar. Where can I meet you?"

"_There's a little cafe in Kalm not far from my home. Do you think you could come out here?"_

"Definitely. Should I come this weekend?" Akalara realized she was drumming her fingers on her desk and had to make herself stop.

"_Yes, I think that would be best. I'll be there around noon. I always stop in for a cup of coffee and a pastry or two."_

"All right." She swallowed hard. "I guess I'll see you then."

_"You will. I promise, you will." _Another pause, then "_Take care of yourself."_

"I always have." The Turk winced, hoping her mother wouldn't take her comment the wrong way. "I'm sorry. I mean, I'll see you later."

She hung up and dropped the phone on her desk, staring at it for a long while. It wasn't until she saw the drops splashing on the blotter than she realized she was crying.


	5. Revelation

**Summary:** "You thought you'd seen the last of me, hadn't you? This has been a long time coming, old man..." Victims should always get the chance to confront their tormentors. Even if that was more than two decades ago... OC, ties in with AmazonTurk's O:A.

**Disclaimer:** I'm sure you all know the drill by now.

**Queen's Quornor: **Okay, I really need to stop leaving my fics hanging. I've been so tied up in work and my Dynasty Warriors fics (and a new addiction to Hakuoki), I basically forgot about this one. Actually, I practically forgot about this entire fandom. Not much room to write fics when your notebooks got lost during your latest move and your computer is on the fritz, not to mention the lack of an internet connection. Meh, I'm working on it. Anyway, I think it's time I give Ak the resolution she needs to get on with her life. She's still got a proposal, marriage, and at least two pregnancies plus a dramatic death and reunion with Seph still on the horizon! But that'll be a few years coming. She needs to get hitched to Revan first, but I don't know if I'll actually write that or not. I may just leave it implied. We'll see.

**Revelation**

"Are you sure you want us here, Ak? I mean, Az and I could go back to the Inn if you'd prefer."

Akalara squeezed her boyfriend's hand, trying to ignore the nervous knotting of her innards. "I want you two there. I was only four the last time I saw her. I have no idea what I'm going to say to her. I don't want to do this by myself."

"You'll be fine, Mom. If anybody can handle seeing a long-lost family member again, it's you." Azrael smiled at his mother, brushing aside a few locks of long silver hair that had fallen into his crimson eyes. "You can do this, and Rev and I will be right there with you."

"I know. You have no idea how much I appreciate having you two with me." The green-haired woman licked her lips and tried to keep her apprehension to herself. She had not told her son the complete story behind this meeting with her mother, and he had assumed that the two of them had somehow become separated. How was one supposed to tell their son that his grandmother had abandoned her only child on the street, and knocked her out when said child tried to run back to her? Revan had only become aware of the circumstances a few nights ago, when Akalara had told him while Azrael was spending the night with Denzel. He had been shocked by her story, but after a few minutes he had decided to let Rae explain herself before passing judgment. Akalara knew he was not happy that she was willing to meet with her, considering his adversarial relationship with his own mother, but it warmed her heart that he was giving her a chance.

Her second-biggest worry was how Azrael was going to react when he realized that she had perpetuated the cycle when he was an infant, by leaving him with Monica all those years. There had not been a choice, admittedly, but a part of Akalara still had not forgiven herself for getting someone else to raise her son while she pretended that she had never had a child. The silver-haired boy loved her fiercely, she knew that, but there were still some unresolved issues there. Once she had spoken with her mother, she would need to try and help him past whatever anger he still harbored towards her for leaving him as a baby. She had carried her own insecurity, hurt, and rage for years after the fact; it was unbearable to think that Azrael might feel the same towards her.

What was she going to say when she saw her? Rae had sounded shocked when they had spoken on the phone, although Akalara had heard a certain tone in her voice that made her think she was not at all upset by her firstborn's unexpected call. Was it possible that she had regretted abandoning her just as much as Akalara did with her son?

Another thought struck her, making her hand tighten on Revan's. What if Rio was there? It was going to be difficult enough facing the mother she had not seen in twenty years. Meeting a sister she had never known she had would make it a hundred times more awkward, especially since Rio was younger than her nephew. This was an all-around fucked up situation, and while Akalara was used to very strange circumstances and happenings, courtesy of her years with the Turks, this had to rank as one of the most uncomfortable she could imagine.

The cafe was swiftly coming into view. Unconsciously, the green-haired woman slowed down, her nerves getting the best of her. Revan and Azrael noticed her hesitation and looked back to her with concerned eyes. She licked her lips again and scrambled for something to explain why she was dawdling. "I do look all right, right? I mean, do I look too old or too sexy?"

Revan favored her with a gentle smile. "You look beautiful. If nothing else, you're going to show her that you're one serious knockout, Ak. And your clothes are more than appropriate, so don't worry about that." He had spent most of the previous evening reassuring his anxious girlfriend while she sifted through all the clothes she had brought on this excursion. The three of them were only planning to stay in Kalm for a few days, but Akalara had brought enough clothes to last two weeks. She had no idea what was appropriate to wear to a meeting of this magnitude, and had thrown everything that made sense into the suitcase. Revan had finally helped her decided that a pair of blue jeans and a brown turtleneck were suitable attire, and talked her into wearing a pair of brown suede, high-heeled boots instead of the sneakers she had originally been leaning towards. He had even taken the time that morning to brush her hair for her, an action which always soothed her nerves.

Akalara made a mental note to thank her long-suffering boyfriend as soon as they got home. He deserved something extra special for putting up with her like this.

Azrael all but pulled her toward the cafe, and as the trio passed the window in the front Akalara glanced inside. There were no more than a few people seated inside, and she felt her heart begin to race as she caught sight of one woman at the back table with shoulder-length black hair, leaning over a book. The woman's hand was wrapped around the handle of an oversized coffee mug, save for one finger that kept tapping against the ceramic. The face leaning over the book was the one from the photo, a face that bore a startling resemblance to her own. The green-haired woman swallowed hard and followed her son inside.

Revan let go of her hand with a soft squeeze. "Do you want to go speak to her? Az and I can get us something while you do."

In reality Akalara's stomach was doing triple axles non-stop, but she nodded. A little food and a cappuccino would probably calm her down a bit. "I'd like a brownie and a vanilla capp, please." She released Azrael's hand and folded her arms, trying to keep herself from trembling. It wouldn't look too good if a member of the Turks was to start shaking with nerves.

"We'll be right here, Mom." The silver-haired boy gave her a quick hug, and then lightly pushed her in the direction of the woman at the back table.

Akalara took a deep breath to steel herself, then began walking. With every step she reminded herself of her need for the truth behind her abandonment, her desire for closure. She didn't have to have her mother back in her life - she'd done perfectly fine without her for more than twenty years. But she did need to resolve this chapter of her life and move on, and this was the only way she could do it.

As she approached, the dark-haired woman looked from her book. Her face went the slightest bit pale, but she closed her book and sat up in her chair, squaring her shoulders and tucking her hair behind her ear. Her scarlet eyes, an exact match to Akalara's own cranberry orbs, trailed up her body until they met her gaze.

"It really is you," she murmured softly. "I wasn't sure if..."

"...if I would actually come?" the Turk finished, coming to a stop beside the table.

"After what I did, I wouldn't have blamed you if you hadn't shown up. I never thought I would actually see you again." Rae gestured to the chair across from her. "Won't you sit down?"

Akalara lowered herself into the chair, never taking her eyes off the other woman. Inwardly, she compared her to the few memories she carried from the time before she had been abandoned. Rae looked much older, of course, and her hair was shorter than she remembered. There were the beginnings of crows feet around her eyes and the shallow crevices that marked a tendency to furrow her brow. The long-fingered hands that used to wipe the blood from her wounds and force painkillers down her throat lay folded atop her book, the bones beginning to show against the skin. But the face and eyes remained much as she recalled. "You don't look like you've changed very much," she said.

The other woman bit her lip. "You certainly have, though. I always knew you would be a beautiful woman when you grew up, but you look just like my grandmother. The only difference is that her eyes were blue, not red."

"So that's where the hair came from?" Akalara asked, twirling a bit of her dark green hair around her finger.

"Yes. Your great-grandmother had the prettiest hair. She used to wear it in all these elaborate up-dos, especially twists." She regarded her daughter pensively, then allowed a little smile to edge her lips. "I remember how happy I was to see that you got her hair."

"I think most of me came from you. I don't really look anything like that man did." The Turk looked down at her hands, lacing her fingers together. "So... How are you?"

Rae shrugged. "I'm...not sure. I think I'm still in shock. I mean, I always dreamed that I would get to see you again, but I never thought it would actually come true." She folded her arms and leaned forward, dipping her head so her dark hair fell to curtain her face. "I've thought so many times about what I would say to you if I ever saw you, but..."

"You can't think of anything either, huh?" That was a sentiment they both shared. Akalara was trying to think of anything safe to discuss, anything that skirted the pain she had carried all these years. A part of her wanted to scream _why?! Why did you do it?! _at her mother. A tiny piece wanted to unleash her anger much as she had with her father. But she held that urge in check because, as a child, she had loved her mother. Cel, her father, had terrorized her when he was drunk and ignored her the remainder of the time, but her mother had always been there to clean her wounds and take away the pain. Occasionally Rae had tried to distract him, and received bruises and at least one broken nose for it. He usually didn't turn away from beating his daughter until he decided he wanted laid, and stumbled off towards the bedroom while bellowing for his girlfriend to follow him. Rae had been the one to leave her on the streets, but before that she had been a real mother to her. At the very least, she owed her the courtesy of a civil conversation.

"I guess the reality of a situation is always harder than imagining it." Rae took a drink of her coffee, letting her scarlet eyes drift over to the counter. "So who are your friends?"

"Their names are Revan and Azrael. They're my boyfriend and..." Akalara bit her lip. "My son."

If Rae was shocked, she kept it to herself. "So not only do I get to see my daughter today, I can meet my grandson." She sighed and smiled. "I didn't think you would have a child by now. Is he the father?"

The green-haired woman shook her head. "Az's father died ten years ago, during Meteorfall."

"Was he in the military?"

"He was." Akalara didn't volunteer any more information. She had kept the identity of Azrael's father a secret all these years, save from her friends and coworkers. If she was going to tell her mother that Sephiroth had sired him, then the older woman would have to prove that she could be trusted. As it was, she was certain that his long silver hair was going to result in a few uncomfortable questions.

Rae frowned. "Is that his natural hair color?"

"It is."

Her mother looked at her, her scarlet eyes steady. Akalara met her gaze with a flat expression of her own. If Rae pressed the issue, or said anything derogatory about Sephiroth, then she was going to walk out that door and never look back.

But Rae surprised her by simply inclining her head and offering her a friendly smile. "Whoever his father was, he must have been a handsome man. That boy is going to have to beat the girls off with a stick when he gets older."

"He already is," the Turk snickered, grateful for the release of tension. "He has two friends who have crushes on him, and I'm sure that it's going to cause a fight when they hit fourteen. But he likes one of them back, so maybe it won't be as bad as I think."

"Or it could be worse. I remember when I was that age, my best friend and I got into a huge fight over Cel. I got him, and never saw her again." Rae's smile melted away and she leaned back in the chair, her expression solemn. "I wanted to apologize to you, for what he did. If I had known how he was going to act after I had you, I would have left him the minute I realized I was pregnant. I'm so sorry, Akalara."

Akalara bit her lip and leaned forward, clasping her hands tightly. "Why didn't you leave him? I mean, you make it sound like he changed after I was born. Wasn't he just as bad before?"

Rae shook her head and mirrored her daughter, bending forward to rest her arms on the table. "Believe it or not, he was a decent man before you came along. I fell in love with him because he was a good sort, always looking out for me and helping me. But once you were born, everything changed. He and I had been living together because my parents died before I got pregnant, and his folks ran out on him when he was twelve. I didn't have anywhere else to go, and we were scraping together a somewhat happy life. But once I showed him that test, he started acting really cold. Didn't treat me badly, just...distant. Then you were born, and it was like someone hit a switch in his head. He started drinking more, and got very abusive towards us both. He wanted me to bring in more money, and since I had gotten kicked out of the Honeybee Inn because I got pregnant -"

"You worked at the Honeybee?" Akalara interrupted, surprised.

"I did. It was Cel's idea originally. We needed money badly, and neither of us could get a job since I had dropped out of school and he stopped going after his parents left. He did odd jobs around the Market, but that didn't make enough. So when he heard that the Don was hiring new faces for the Inn, he suggested that I apply for it. Needless to say, I was hired." Rae sighed and pushed some of her dark hair behind her ear. "That might have been part of the reason why he was so hostile towards you. I think he thought you weren't his, and saw no reason to act like a father. He and I had been sleeping together for nearly five years at that point, and I had never gotten pregnant. So he may have thought he wasn't able to get me pregnant. After all, I started having symptoms about three months after I started work there. What was he supposed to think?"

The green-haired woman laughed bitterly. "He should have acted like a man, even if I wasn't his. Which I _am._ I had my DNA compared to his a few weeks ago. He was definitely my father."

"I know. He never believed me when I told him that I took every precaution I could to prevent a baby after each client. The last thing I wanted was to have a child with one of those sleazeballs." Rae took a long sip of her coffee and set the mug down, wrapping her hands around it tightly. "I tried to keep him away from you. He was always gone during the day, but I took you with me while I bought and sold the pills. I always had you tied up against my chest, under my coat, so I knew you were safe. None of the other dealers realized I had a baby in there, and they knew not to mess with me because I always carried a gun. But after I got back to the house, when he would come home..."

"Why didn't you shoot him?" Akalara demanded quietly, mindful of the other patrons in the cafe. "That would have saved a whole lot of trouble. You could have claimed self-defense."

"I think... I think a part of me still loved him, in spite of everything. I know it sounds crazy, but I wanted to think that he would stop hurting us, that he would go back to the way he was before I got pregnant and turn into this wonderful father and we could be a family." The dark-haired woman frowned. "I think another part of it was that I didn't didn't deserve anybody better, as far as I was concerned. I mean, I had been with him for five years. I had dropped out of school for him. I had sold my body and got involved in the drug trade because of him. Plus he had fathered you, even if he was a miserable excuse for a dad. I thought I owed it to him to stay with him, to help him get off the booze and get his head back on straight. I wanted a better life for all three of us."

Akalara stayed quiet. She had always wondered why her mother never left Cel, why she stuck with him in spite of what he was doing to their daughter. Of all the reasons she had pondered, it had never occured to her that Rae could ever have loved him. "How could you have ever loved someone like that?" she finally asked.

"Like I said, he wasn't always abusive. He once shared my dreams with me, and hoped to get a good job so we could get out of Sector 5 and move above the Plate. He wanted to be an engineer with Shinra, since he had always been good with his hands and loved machinery, and the position paid well. I thought that if I sold enough pills and held on long enough, then he would finally get hired by Shinra and everything would get better." Rae took another long drink of her coffee and leaned forward again, lowering her voice. "But after I heard what he was planning for you, I couldn't dream like that anymore."

The Turk cocked her head to the side, letting her curiosity fill her cranberry eyes. "What are you talking about? Was he actually going to try and kill me?"

"Worse." Rae bit her lip, then looked up to meet her daughter's eyes. "While he was doing some work at the Don's mansion, Cel heard that one of Corneo's henchmen had a certain...interest in young virgins. The younger, the better. He also liked exotic girls, especially if they were from Wutai or had some kind of unusual feature. Word was that he had completely broken his last toy, and wanted something a bit different this time. So Cel offered to let him buy you, for about five thousand gil."

"Me?" Akalara blurted, her mouth falling open in shock. "He wanted to sell me to some pedophile?"

The older woman nodded. "The man wanted to inspect you before he made the purchase. When Cel came home, he tried to pick you up and take you away, acting all sweet and friendly so you would come to him. Since he had never been kind to you before, I got suspicious and asked him what he was doing. He tried to pass it off, but after I pulled my gun he spilled the beans. I couldn't believe that he wanted to sell his own daughter, let alone to somebody like that. I didn't want to believe that he could be that evil. But he was completely serious, so I had an idea. You were pretty filthy, so I pointed out that he might get more money if you were all nice and clean, and prettied up. He agreed with me, and told me that I could have all day tomorrow to get you ready. Once he got off from work, he'd come pick you up."

"Is that when you decided to abandon me?" the green-haired woman asked, fighting to keep her voice even.

"It was the only way to keep you safe. I didn't have the money to run away with you, and both Cel and I were pretty well-known in the area. I had kept you hidden while you were a baby, and after you got too big for me to carry around under my coat I started leaving you alone in the house during the day, climbing in and out the window so you couldn't follow me. So while few people would know you, I would be recognized in an instant. There wasn't enough time to try and get you adopted by some agency, and the only orphanage I could get to wouldn't accept a child without proof of the parents' deaths, or if both parents agreed to give up their child. Cel, of course, would never have agreed to something like that. The only option I had was to leave you, Akalara. I know it sounds horrible, but what kind of mother would just let her boyfriend take her daughter and sell her?" Rae's fingers clenched on the mug. "It was the only way to save you. I wish I could have done something else, but there just wasn't enough time. I only had until sunset to find a solution."

Akalara stayed quiet. She had remembered how much of a bastard Cel was, but this was something she had not realized was going on. She had always thought her mother had abandoned her to keep her from him, to stop the beatings. But to save her from being sold to one of Don Corneo's toadies...

"Why did you hit me?" she asked softly. "When I ran after you, you slapped me so hard that I blacked out. Why did you do that?"

The dark-haired woman shivered and lifted her head a bit, allowing her crimson eyes to lock with Akalara's again. "Because if I had let you grab my leg, the way you did whenever I came home and you greeted me, then I would have picked you up and never let you go. I would have taken you back to the house, and Cel would have taken you away." She swallowed hard. "Leaving you behind was the hardest thing I have ever done. If I had let myself be your mother then, you would have wound up like all the other girls who were bought by that man. I couldn't let that happen, no matter how much it killed me to hurt you like that."

The room was getting blurry, Akalara realized. Tears were beginning to well up and collect on her eyelashes. "I'm guess I'm more like you than I thought," she confessed on a choking sob. "I did the same thing, when I had my son. I couldn't raise him because it would have been too dangerous, so I left him with someone else."

"But he's with you now," Rae pointed out quietly. "I couldn't retrieve you because I had no idea where you had gone, or even if you were still alive. All I could do was pray that you had somehow found your way into a better life. I couldn't do anything else. Hell, I couldn't even scrape up the courage to try and find you, no matter how badly I wanted to see you."

The older woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, handing it to Akalara. The Turk unfolded it and stared. It was a page from a magazine, describing Shinra's efforts to rebuild the community following Deepground's attack on Edge. There was a picture of Rufus and Reeve standing together on a stage, apparently captured while the latter was delivering a speech. Also in the shot were several members of the Turks. The four senior Turks were arrayed behind the two men, and a number of the rookies - then all brand new to the force - were lined up as a barrier between the crowd and the stage. Akalara scanned the faces of her coworkers, and spotted herself standing between Sage and Brit, gazing at the press with a carefully neutral expression. Her long green hair had been hanging loose that day, and the paper that held the splash of dark green ink was softer, more worn than any other spot on the page.

"I found that in a magazine a few years ago, and the moment I saw it I just knew that was my daughter," Rae whispered. "I honestly thought my heart was going to stop when I turned to that article. All those years of wondering if you were still alive, if you had somehow made it off the streets just hit me all at once, and I remember I cried for an hour. I couldn't bring myself to try and contact you, though. I mean, I had left you all alone for twenty years. I thought for sure that if I tried to meet you or call you, you would reject me. I didn't want to face your hatred, no matter how much I deserved it. So I kept that picture, and whenever I felt the need to see you I would pull it out and look at you." She let out a short laugh. "Rio once asked me why I was always looking at that picture, and I told her that her sister was in it. But I didn't tell her which woman was you, so she thinks that her big sister is this woman." She pointed to Kandi. "She really likes those red streaks she has. I had to talk her out of using her fingerpaint on her own hair."

"That's one of my best friends, so she wasn't too far off-base." Akalara carefully handed the paper back to the older woman, but when Rae reached out to take it, the green-haired Turk grabbed her hand in hers. "I never hated you. I struggled to understand why you did it, but I never hated you. I reserved that for Cel, since I remember the beatings." She brushed at the burgeoning tears gathering in her eyes. "I would have been shocked to hear from you, but I think I would have been happy to know that you wanted to find me. I've wanted to know the truth for years, and I also wanted to let Azrael meet more of his family. Right now, I'm all he has."

Rae squeezed her hand tightly. "Didn't his father have any family, either?"

Akalara shook her head. "Nobody worth mentioning. For all points and purposes, he was an orphan. That's part of why he and I gravitated towards each other, I think. The other reason was that we were both very unusual people, and he liked that about me. We had some very important things in common."

"I'm sorry that he died. I would have liked to meet him."

The green-haired woman looked at her mother, then twisted in her seat. "Hey Az? Can you come here?" she called. While he made his way over to the seated women, she turned back to Rae. "I wish he could have met you. I think Az's father would have liked you, although it would have taken some time for him to warm up to you. He was pretty aloof when it came to new people, usually."

Azrael sat in the chair beside his mother, and passed her the cappuccino and brownie she had requested. "Here you go, Mom."

"Thanks, Az." She squeezed Rae's hand again, then let go and wrapped her hands around her mug. "Az, I'd like you to meet your grandmother, Rae Hatchett. Mom, this is Azrael Forrest, your grandson."

Rae froze when Akalara said "grandmother," but a smile slowly broke across her face and her eyes filled with tears as she turned to the silver-haired boy. "Hello Azrael. It's wonderful to finally meet you."

Azrael regarded her with guarded cranberry eyes, then nodded and gave her a tentative smile. "It's nice to meet you, too."

Akalara looked at the reflection of her son in his grandmother's eyes - the same crimson eyes all three of them sported - and could not stop her own smile. Movement caught her attention and she twisted slightly, spotting Revan sitting at a different table, drinking his coffee. She waved him over, and introduced him to Rae. As he greeted her mother, she folded her arms tightly, hugging herself as warmth spread throughout her chest. All these years, she had wondered what might have happened if her mother had remained a part of her life. She had been worried about what could happen if she ever tried to find her, if she was even still alive and wanted to be found. These past days, the concern that had kept her awake had been what kind of woman her mother would turn out to be.

It appeared that she had been worried for nothing.


End file.
